Improvement iw metal-clad ceilings



W. EIWORTHENQ METAL-GLAD CEILING.

' @ggmxm N PEIERS PHOTO LITHOGPAFHER WASHINGTON/D C.

WILLIAM E. WORTHEN, OF YORK, N.Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN METAL-GLAD CEILINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No- H929 h00, dated June26, 1877 application filed May 17, 1877.

Toall whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,WILLIAM EZRA WORTH- EN, of the city, county, andState of New York, have made an invention of a new and useful article ofmanufacture, which I denominate Metal-Glad Ceiling; and that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description and specification ofthe same.

The article which constitutes my manufacture is a compound slab of woodand thin sheet metal, suitable for making ceilings and partitions, thewood constituting the core of the ceilings and sides of stores and otherbuildings, and for the faces of the partitions thereof, is a greatsafeguard against the spreading of fire.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, I have representedin the accompanying drawing and will proceed to describe the modesin'which I have thus far applied my invention to practical use.

Figures 1 and 2 represent transverse sections of two varieties of themetal-clad ceiling, of size suitable for practical use. Figs. 3 and 4represent on a smaller scale two modes in which the said article may beapplied to ceilings and'partitions.

The metal-clad ceiling, as represented at Fig. 1, consists of a core, A,of wood, which is coated with a sheet-metal clothing, B, the sheet metalbeing turned around the edges of the wood and into grooves c a formed inthose edges. When constructed in this form, the metal is securelyconnected with the Wood core without the use of nails or tacks. As themetal coating is thin, I find it expedient to stiffen it by corrugatingit, which operation is performed by passing the compound article betweena pair of rolls, one of which is smooth, while the barrel-face of theother has projecting ridges upon it corresponding with the grooves to beproduced. Instead of fitting the wood core with metal clothing upon oneside only, itmay be clothed upon both sides, as represented at Fig. 2,the sheet metal being turned round the edges and into the groovesthereof, as represented in that figure. The ends of the sheet-metalplating are turned round the end edges of the wooden core in the samemode as at the sides thereof, and are secured by being turned intogrooves formed into the said ends. The article may be manufactured inslabs or boards of such breadth and length as may be found expedient forthe purpose for which it is to be employed.

The slabs or strips of this metal-clad ceiling may be nailed directly tothe beams or studs of a building, and the edges and ends of the adjacentslabs or strips are locked together by means of narrow iron strips D,forming tongues, which are engaged in the grooves of the ceiling. Ifdeemed best, each tongue, as it is put in place, may be nailed to thestuds or beams, the tongues being punched with nail-holes for thatpurpose. In such case no nails need be inserted through the metal-cladceiling, except the last piece in width.

Having thus described the mode in which I have manufactured my newarticle of metalclad ceiling, I declare that I am aware that sheet metalhas been nailed upon the surfaces of wooden partitions and ceilings forthe purpose of protecting the same from heat; but in such case thewooden boards have been nailed in place first, without regard to anymetal plating, and the metal has subsequently been applied to theboarded partition or ceiling in sheets, without regard to the widths ofthe wood boards. In my case, each piece of wood is 'clad separately withmetal before it is to be used in building, the breadth of the metalclothingor plating corresponding with the wood with which it iscombined, so that the article may be manufactured in shops, fitted withmachinery adapted to the work, and

may then be sent, ready for putting up, to the place where it isto beused. Moreover, in my article the edges of the slabs or strips aremetal-clad, so that the joints of the slabs are Witness my hand this16th day of April,

protected as well as the faces. A. D. 1877.

I therefore claim as my invention- As a new article of manufacture, thebe WILLIAM EZRA WORTHEN. fore-described metal-clad ceiling, consistingof a core of wood and a sheet-metal clothing Witnesses: therefor,constructed and combined substan- RICH. S. GILLESPIE, tially asrepresented and specified. 1 AUGUSTE J. ROSSE.

